Islamabad
The government has taken radical and innovative measures for uplift of the minerals sector with coordinated efforts of all stakeholders including provincial authorities.
“The country is blessed with 92 minerals, out of which 50 are exploited on commercial basis. The new initiatives will greatly help exploit true potential of this sector,” a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP.
As per constitutional provisions, he said, the federal government was mandated with geological surveys and regulation of mineral oil, natural gas and the minerals necessary for generation of nuclear energy and those occurring in federal areas, national policy formulation, facilitation and coordination at national and international levels. “All other minerals are provincial subject.”
For revamping the minerals sector, he said, the federal government had established the Balochistan Minerals Exploration Company Limited (BMEC) as joint venture with the provincial government to promote large-scale mining in the mineral rich province of Balochistan.
It also launched an investment facilitation project titled “Establishment of National Minerals Data Center (NMDC)” at federal level through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) at cost of Rs295 million. —APP
